Tag: bionic bookworm

MemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Most Intimidating Books

Posted on by J.W. Martin

On this final Tuesday of January, Shanah the Bionic Bookworm would like to know about books that we all consider to be intimidating reads. From massive lengths to complicated prose, there are lots of reasons for a book to be intimidating. Here are the top 5 books that intimidate me the most!

Mistborn
by Brandon Sanderson

There are a lot of books in this series. The 7th book is slated to come out late this year, plus there is a prequel book and a book that’s supposed to take place between 3 and 4. I don’t know the reading order of any of this, but it’s intimidating just to think about. This probably won’t stop me, though.

In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote

I have no idea what intimidates me about this book. Maybe because of that Capote movie where the author was played by Phillip Seymor Hoffman and he looked VERY serious throughout. A man that serious looking must write prose that I would be able to make heads or tails of, right?

House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski

It’s unconventional. It has so many footnotes that some of the footnotes have footnotes. I’m not kidding. That’s not the real intimidating part, though. It’s unconventional nature sounds similar to The Illuminae Files. What intimidates me is how many people have said the book leaves you feeling unsettled. I don’t read a lot of horror. So if this is the most horrific of all horror, I might be in some trouble with this book.

A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking

Hawking is a bonafide genius. And he’s going to talk about physics. Am I going to understand any of this? I read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. It was supposed to be Astrophysics dumbed down, and most of it was still waaaaaaaaay above my head.

Discworld
by Terry Pratchett

And I thought Mistborn was a big series? Holy crap-weasels! Discworld is MASSIVE! And some of the books are grouped into series within the series, where others are standalone. From what I’ve been told, you can start from almost anywhere, but that’s not really true.

I stole this helpful graphic from lspace.org. As you can see, there are several ‘starter novels’ with oodles of sequels from each. There are illustrated novels, short stories, and ‘science novels’ in the mix as well. When (not IF) I start this series, I think I’ll start with Mort. I don’t know why.

Fun fact about this post: These books are scary enough that I can’t even bring myself to put most of them on my TBR!
MemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 rewind – books I don’t talk about enough

Posted on by J.W. Martin

So, I suppose Shanah’s Top 5 this week is meant to highlight books that I love that I don’t feel like I talk about often enough. Obviously, I can’t put Ready Player One on this list, but I’ll give it my best shot!

The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein

This is one my favorite books ever, but it just doesn’t seem to come up too often. The entire story is told from the perspective of the family dog! And yes, it’s just a hilarious and heart-warming as that makes it sound.

Wool
by Hugh Howey

This is a book I found kind of randomly. Originally, it was kind of serial made of 4 or 5 parts. Part 1 was free and after I read it, I absolutely had to read the rest. This was one of those books that helped me destroy a reading slump.

Steelheart
by Brandon Sanderson

To be fair, I just finished this book in December, so I haven’t had much opportunity to talk about it, but I have a feeling a will!

On Writing
by Stephen King

I mainly talk about reading here, and even though this is a book, it’s a book about writing, so it doesn’t get a lot of attention. But it is easily one of the best books on the craft of writing that I’ve ever read. (It also has an interesting biographical look at King’s career.)

Choke
by Chuck Palahniuk

This book inspired me to write one of my own. Before reading it, I didn’t realize a book could have such a raw and deeply personal voice (I was extremely naive and not very well read at the time.)

Fun fact about this post: It’s tough to come up with a list of books you don’t talk about when you SPEND EACH WEEK TALKING ABOUT BOOKS!
MemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 Series I Want to Start this Year

Posted on by J.W. Martin

It’s time to talk books, everybody!

This week, we’re talking series. Shanah, the Bionic Bookworm, wants to know the top series we all want to start this year. Well, this was a pretty easy list to put together since there are SO many that I’ve been wanting to start and just didn’t have time to get to until this year (hopefully!)

  

DC Icons
by Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas, & Matt de la Pena

Okay. Maybe this doesn’t exactly count as a series, but… deal with it. Superheroes are one of my favourite things ever and these are DC heroes. My heroes. I like all superheroes, but DC is where my true nerd-heart lies. Plus, they’ve found great writers to take on each book. Not sure if they tie-in with each other, but I kind of hope they do.

  

Mistborn
by Brandon Sanderson

Sanderson is one of those authors that I’ve been meaning to get to for years. Last year I read Steelheart, and I loved it. It was easy to say I was going to read more Sanderson at that point. And then someone told me that Steelheart wasn’t even his best!

 Nevernight 

The Nevernight Chronicle
by Jay Kristoff

The only Kristoff I’ve read is Illuminae, which was awesome. So based off of that, and the million-billion raves about this series, this one is a no-brainer.

A Darker Shade of Magic 

Shades of Magic
by V.E. Schwab

Probably the series I’ve been wanting to get to more than any other. Can’t wait.

 

Legend
by Marie Lu

Would you look at that? Marie Lu is on this list twice!

Fun fact about this post: The 4th book in the DC Icons SERIES is going to Superman!!
MemesTop 5 Tuesday

Top 5 ‘Top 5 Tuesdays’ of 2017

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Shanah, a.k.a. the Bionic Bookworm, is one of the most giving and supportive bloggers in the entire blogopshere. Her Top 5 Tuesdays are a staple of many bloggers’ posting weeks. As a tribute, and a small token of our gratitude, some of us have agreed to do 1 final top 5 post for the year. This is the Top 5 ‘Top 5 Tuesdays’ in 2017!

Top 5 Book Covers

Who doesn’t love a good book cover? It’s was damn-near impossible to choose, but I did my best. I recently received a copy of Sea of Rust (possibly my all-time favourite cover) and it does not disappoint in-person!

Top 5 Buzzwords That Make Me Not Want To Read a Book

This was kind of a negative topic, but isn’t is kind of fun to just get bashy once in a while?

Top 5 Books That Have Been on My TBR the Longest

By far the guiltiest post of the year! At the time of writing, I thought these 5 books would be on my TBR in another year. However, I’m happy to report that due to the POPSUGAR reading challenge, most of these books will be read in 2018!

Top 5 Books That Need a Spin-Off

So much want and desire. The only part of the post that wasn’t enjoyable was realizing that I probably wasn’t going to get the spin-offs I wanted.

Top 5 New to Me Authors in 2017

I love this one for selfish reasons. I featured Kristen Ciccarelli on my list, and when I tweeted about it she liked my post. And a little later on, she actually replied. I know, I’m such a nerd. But it’s the little things in life, right?

Fun fact about this post: Thanks, Shanah! Looking forward to all your 2018 T5T Topics!
Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 cozy winter reads

Posted on by J.W. Martin

On the 5th day of Blogmas

yours truly brings to you,

another Top 5 Tuesday,

from Bionic Bookworm!

Co-zy win-ter reads!

Sorry for spontaneously breaking into song. I guess it’s just that time of year? Anyway, this is Shanah’s Top 5 Tuesday. I’m not 100% sure what constitutes a cozy winter read. Maybe that means stories taking place in winter wonderlands, or maybe just a story taking place at a particular time of year. I’m going to pick 5 books that just ‘feel’ like the kind of story good to read when it’s cold outside, but your reading spot is nice and warm.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

Seems like I almost always read installments of this series in the winter, and maybe that’s what makes me think of cozy winter reads. Or maybe because it’s always talking about people warming themselves by one campfire or another.

Six of Crows book cover

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This book often gave me the impression of cold and wet. In contrast, I never felt drier and warmer while reading.

 

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This one has so many moments to warm the heart, even if you read it in the dead of winter.

Wool by Hugh Howey

I can’t put my finger on why this one qualifies, but it just gives me that feeling.

 

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

The holiday scenes always had a big impact on me. Here was this kid that had no one to spend his holidays with, so he stayed at school. Though to be honest, the lists of gifts he received each year made him seem completely spoiled. Then again, we’re talking about things like enchanted chess sets. How can that not seem like the coolest thing in the world?

Fun fact about this post: It’s cold, wet, and windy outside as I write this.
Top 5 Tuesday

Top 5 books that have been on my TBR the longest

Posted on by J.W. Martin
My name is Joe, and I am a TBR addict.

I love adding books to that growing list, and I mostly hate taking them off (unless it’s because I read a book.) Most of these books will probably still be on my list in a year’s time because that’s the level of evil I am when it comes to my TBR. Here are the 5 that have been on that list the longest.

This week’s top 5, hosted by the wise and talented Bionic Bookworm, is the top 5 books that have been on my TBR the longest.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

White Walls by H.M.C.

White Walls by H.M.C.

Sand by Hugh Howey

the princess bride

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Legion by Brandon Sanderson

Fun fact about this post: I did get part way through Legion, but dropped it. Not because of the book itself, but due to other life circumstances and fully intend on picking it back up.